Monday, 29 September 2008

NATTERJACK SEASIDE 10KWith less than 3 weeks till my local 10k I don't have much time to do any special training, All I can really do is sharpen up my marathon running muscles a bit!Mon 29th 20x 15 sec sprints with 15 sec recovery, followed by a easy-steady run over the sandhills. Tess the mad sheep dog was taking the piss out of me and laughing at my lack of speed, I think she must by related to GebrseLASSIE, I guess it is a bit embarrassing that I could only reach Haile's average marathon pace at the end of my 15 second sprints! But when your own dog laughs at you, then it really is to much, don't ya think!= 1.26

Sunday, 28 September 2008

Saturday, 27 September 2008

Mon 22nd The day after the marathon we took a trip to SNOWDON and went on the ancient steam train up the mountain. Niz looked a bit worried as the train bumped and rattled its way up into the clouds.'The Snowdon Railway Conceived by a group of businessmen over 100 years ago as a replacement to the ponies that used to carry visitors to the summit, it is Britain's only rack railway with tooted racks in the centre of the track that engage with cogs under the carriages. The engine (some are steam others diesel) is always below the carriages.

The only serious accident happened the day it opened when the engine ran away for a while. Control was regained quickly but a passenger jumped off and sustained fatal injuries'.

I have run up the mountain many times [ twice in the mountain race] but never been on the train before, it made for quite an entertaining afternoon and gave Rob,s and my legs a nice rest! If you have never been before I recommend a visit , the place is incredibly beautiful, and the same goes for Beaumaires ANGLESEY as well!

Steph, Rob's mate took a liking to the local bar maid, and we all had to laugh when Niz's food came, she ordered ' MUCHO SHOULDER OF LAMB', it was Hugh, massive! Rob had to help her finish it off!

Pics, 3/4 way up snowdon, Niz,s new Teddy Steph, named after Rob,s mate!

Sun 28thThe plan was to run a 10k race at Parbold, but as I was still not feeling great I decided to run 2 x 3 miles tempo in and around the outside of Vic park. The first effort went like this, mile 1 in 6.11, 2 in 6.14, 3 in 5.58 = 18.23 , 6.07 av pace. the second 3 miles went by in 18.51 with mile 4 in 6.10, 5 in 6.32 and mile 6 in 6.09 = 6.17 av pace.

Sat 27th Easy sandhills run with a few fast bursts, felt very average! = 52 mins

Fri 26th Easy run over the sandhills with Tess the dog, felt good at the start but felt a bit weary by the end! = 1.28

Thur 25th I spent much of tue-wed in bed feeling ill as the virus rampaged through my weakened body! by Thur I was starting to feel better so went down to the club session [ my first run since the marathon] 6x 150m = 40mins

Tuesday, 23 September 2008

THE 3 R's MASTER THE ANGLESEY MARATHONOn the start line representing the club was defending champion Rob Ashworth, inform Rob Mcgrath and me!With 1400ft of climbing and most of it in the second half this was no p.b. course but a very tough challenge!Last year the two Rob's faced gale force winds and driving rain, this time we had almost perfect conditions with almost no wind and wall to wall sunshine, if anything it would prove a bit on the warm side!Rob Ashworth sped away at the start, while Rob Mcgrath and myself hung back and stuck to a more sensible pace. The first 7 miles are mostly downhill and i really enjoyed cruising along and looking at the breath taking scenery,Rob and me ran the early stages in a group of 5 runners including a very tall guy who had run 2.44 at this years London ! we were to later leave him well behind.The serious climbing started at about 9 miles, we went through 10 miles in 1 hour 4 mins, by which point it was just Rob and me running together, I was feeling really good and started pushing the pace on the uphills. rob latter told me he was going through a rough patch.By 17 miles i could feel my energy start to drain away and by 17.5 Rob started to pull away on one of the many climbs, at this point Rob Ashworth was coming into our view, it was pretty evident that he was going through a hard time as he laboured up the climb!By 20 miles the 2 Robs were together while behind i was dropping back.At 22 miles the final climb started, by now I was down to running on body fat as my carb stores ran out! This 2 mile climb was a bitter blow, despite suffering like hell i still passes 4 runners, one guy stopped as i dragged my body past him.I was now running on pure will power [ i had nothing else left!] I wanted to walk, no I wanted to stop! I felt dehydrated and sick in my stomach, Each mile felt longer and harder, could I keep going!Up ahead Rob Ashworth put in a last desperate attempt to break away from hard man Rob Mcgrath, Rob A got 50m advantage by the top of the hill but Rob M pulled him back at 25 miles.At last i made my painful way to the final 1/4 mile, i just about got ready to turn in for the finish but the marshal shouted no and pointed to the next turn off 200m further on! how cruel, more climbing!Some 4 minutes before, the same thing had happened to Rob Ashworth he uttered the words"BLOODY HELL" the two Robs came into the final straight neck and neck, both too tired to sprint, so they came to a spur of the moment gentleman's agreement and crossed the line together for 7th place in 2.54.At last i got to the 26 mile sign and some how sprinted down to the finish line in 11th 2.58, only seconds later to collapse in a heap begging my wife for water!THIS WAS MY TOUGHEST EVER MARATHON BY FAR and respect goes out to every single person who finished!The virus that left me completely drained after only a 2 mile tempo run just a week before the marathon returned the day after the Marathon, [sore throat,cough and running nose ] I guess the virus never fully left my body and might explain why I felt so drained in the closing miles, but hell who knows!

ARTHUR LYDIARD says "The knee lift is the key to running properly. The knees must come up so the thigh is as near horizontal as possible and feet should lift high behind. This shortens the lever established by the knee, and it is indisputable that the short lever will move faster than the long one. A foot coming through low to the ground produces a slow stride, a foot coming through high gives a fast stride.Hold one end of a pencil and move it to and fro, then do it with a 3 ft ruler. Which is easier to move. "MATT FITZGERALD of BRAIN TRAINING FOR RUNNERS SAYS;

concentrate on driving the thigh of your swing leg forward a little more forcefully than you normally do. A more forceful forward- upward movement of this leg will create a counter balancing downward-backward action in your opposite leg as it comes into contact with the ground. [Think of the way your free arm moves in opposition to your throwing arm when you throw a ball hard.]

Next time your out running try lifting your knees a bit higher you should feel an increase in speed! On hills concentrate on a higher knee lift, you should be able to climb a little bit more powerfully and with a faster leg turn over!

SO MAYBE THOSE SCRUFFY KIDS ON THE STREET CORNER ARE GIVING GOOD ADVISE EVEN IF THEY DON'T KNOW IT WHEN THEY SHOUT " GET THEM KNEES UP!"

Thursday, 18 September 2008

Back in 2004 we went to CLUB LASANTA and on one of the days we went to their RUNNING SCHOOL, a very attractive sexy Irish girl checked out our running styles and showed me how to lean forward to improve running efficiency!By leaning your whole body forward from the ankles not only do you take advantage of the pull of gravity but you also land under your center of gravity, if you run upright your landing foot will land in front of your center of gravity causing a breaking affect and also you have to use your leg muscles to pull your body weight forward until you are directly over your landing foot, very wasteful! i used the forward lean to smash my p.b.s for both 5k and the 1/2 marathon in 2004. I also won the CLUB LASANTA 10k and 1/2 marathon.Thur 18thArthur Lydiard leg speed sessionWith Rob, Steady Eddie and Tracey, 6 x 160m=46minsWed 17thEasy in the sandhills = 36mins

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

Good posture is very important if you want to run your best;ARTHUR LYDIARD says, " Picture how the ballet dancer stands tall, flexible, powerful and seeming barely to touch the ground at all as he or she moves. America's greatest sprint coach, Bud Winter,emphasised running tall, the Australian middle and long distance coach, Percy Cerutty, called it "lifting yourself out of your pelvis". You should feel as if you are centimetres taller than you are. Far too many runners do not get that feeling or attitude. They sit in a bucket as they run, if you can picture that alongside the ballet exponent".

Tuesday, 16 September 2008

Arthur Lydiard's program called for a 1 mile time trial, after being ill at the weekend I was not looking forward to it. It was a dark and gloomy wet evening and I had to really force myself outside, but once I got going I felt surprisingly good!Me being me I decided to run 1 mile at 1/2 marathon pace6.05 [ well it use to be my 1/2 pace] I then took a minute easy before charging into a flat out mile in Vic park,5.18this was very encouraging, and compares well to the 5.20 I ran before the Blackpool marathon in April, in fact its my fastest mile in 4 years. I finished with a warm down mile in5.54then set off for home a little more confident about my big race on Sunday!

physiology of the human bodyHow many Bones, muscles and organs can you name and what are the names of the four chambers of the heart? these were just some of the questions we had to answer in the classroom yesterday on my Gym instructors course [ and i thought all a instructor had to do was look smug and prance up and down the gym floor!]. Don't think my tutor was over impressed with my diagram of an Alien with 2 hearts and 3 lungs though, ho,ho! Second half of the class was in the weights room, after being instructed on how to use each machine we were given 40 mins free time for a workout, I got to go on the treadmill and almost came flying off the back as I reached an almighty 8 mph and decided to stop and tie my shoe lace!!! [ joke].

Sun 14thEasy run with Jon on the infamous sandhill 6! = 1.01Sat 13thMy wife Niz has had a virus for the last week so I knew sooner or later I'd go down with it, after having a great run on Friday I started to notice a sore throat and cold sores on my mouth, dam this was not good! Saturday called for a 2 mile tempo run, setting off I really didn't feel great, but I kind of convinced myself that I might come around once I got warmed up.Setting off on my 2 mile tempo run inside the local park my legs felt kind of empty, holding just over 10mph felt much harder than iT should have and bY the time I finished my effort my legs were shot! I jogged home feeling very sorry for myself and had to go and have a lie down for a couple of hours to recover. Things are not looking good one week before the marathon!2 mile Tempo run = 11.59= 55 minsFri 12thSHORT AND SWEET!Arthur Lydiards programme called for an easy fartlek session so I did my short loop into the sandhills and back, I put some short fast surges in up and down the hills and on the road home, I felt better and better as the session went on and my legs were really wizzing round!Man I love days like these! =32 minsThur 11thLEG SPEED SESSION10 x 160 m with Rob and super vet Steve James = 45 mins

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

For next years LONDON MARATHON I intend to follow ARTHUR LYDIARDS training program 'DISTANCE TRAINING FOR MASTERS', I'm going to follow the last two weeks of the programme before my next marathon on the 21st of this month. Today called for a 5 k TT at a hard but not race pace, I used the marine lake loop as its almost spot on 5k. I ended up running around half marathon pace which felt about right 3.1 miles at 6.14 pace. 19.22 = 38mins

Tuesday, 9 September 2008

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong is coming out of retirement to try to win an 8th TOUR DE FRANCE; Despite the drug suspicions that i guess will always hang over him, you can’t take away the fact that this guy is a true fighter a gun slinging anti hero like Clint Eastwood in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY! Drugs have been part of the tour since its inception, just read any of the old books on the riders and the great race, the drugs rightly or wrongly just add to the intrigue and mystery of this awesome race, how can you expect anyone to survive let alone race day after day through rain, burning sun incredible mountain stages and time trials that the average club rider would need days to recover from. Read the book by PAUL KIMMAGE ‘ a rough ride’ to find out what riding the tour without drugs would be like! I don’t feel that taking drugs in this race is cheating, this race is inhuman , the public want to see the gladiators fighting to the death and thats what they get, and LANCE is the altermate anti hero, the fastest draw in the wild west. MORE

Had a great day yesterday as it was my first night at college doing my level 2 fitness instructors course, felt quite nervous beforehand but really enjoyed the experience of learning .I plan also to do a nutrition course and then my level 3 so i can become a personnel trainer.Since starting the course i feel my self confidence and self esteem have improved greatly!No running yesterday, ran easy steady over the sandhills today for 1.35

Sunday, 7 September 2008

RUFFORD 10KI knew I was pushing it too hard on the Thursday interval session , but I guess I just got carried away! Been feeling tired since and todays race did not go well. I really should have followed ARTHUR LYDIARD'S training advise " you can not train hard and race well at the same time".Team mates Rob Mcgrath and Rob Ashworth set off pretty quickly at the start going through the first mile in 5.18, I held back a bit clocking 5.26, slowly i reeled them in and by mile two I was on there shoulder! At mile 3 [ 17.00] we were together , but then all of a sudden my wheels came off! I spent the next 3 miles running on empty and groveling along in the gutter! It was not good, i wanted to stop! I went across the line in 36.54 and 17th, not a good result but a good lesson not to ignore the teachings of the Master! at least it was not an important race!

Saturday, 6 September 2008

My next race is the RUFFORD 10K on sunday, this can be a very fast course on a good day but if its windy then it can be hard going, because some of the roads are quite exposed to the sea breezes coming off the north west coast. I last ran this race in 2006 when I recorded 37.32,MY RUFFORD 10K RESULTS since 2000 are;2000 34.51 p.b., 2001 36.18, 2003 35.11, 2004 35.32After starting ARTHUR LYDIARD training in the summer of last year i recorded 35.52 in the October 2007 southport 10kToday I ran real easy on the road for 39minsPHOTO Rob and me at BLACKPOOL MARATHON 2008

Thursday, 4 September 2008

I ran a 7.5 mile loop before meeting up with the club for Robs session.Rob told us that we would be running an unofficial club relay, he split us up into teams oftwo .ROB and super vet STEVE JAMES, TRACEY AND PAUL and me and STEADY EDDIE.We were to run a half mile loop round the Fisherman's rest pub, taking it in turns, each of us would run a total of 6 laps, so each team would cover 6 mile in total.We set off, rob shooting off like a scolded cat! I dug deep and just about managed to hold him, with a 100m to go i was a few strides behind him, but gave it every thing to sprint up to him at the change over point, now STEVE JAMES and STEADY EDDIE sprinted off with TRACEY just a few yards behind!We jogged around nervously waiting for our team to come into view, Eddie had put in a fantastic effort and pulled about 5 secs out of Steve, as Eddie came along side me I sprinted off on my second lap, Eddie had got us the psychological advantage, this time I felt the pressure of not wanting to let Eddie down. i tried to relax and felt much better hitting 12 mph on the slight downhill sections, with a 100m to go i sprinted all out, keeping Rob in second place!At last I got ready for my last lap, Eddie came into view with a good lead, as soon as he came along side I sprinted off, I knew Rob was still a danger and as I reached the last corner I could hear rob's foot steps closing in on me, one final all out sprint and I held our lead over the finish line!1st team Eddie and me, 2nd rob and steve, 3rd tracey and paul.i reckon we covered the 6 miles in about 33 mins, It was a great idea of Rob's to hold the relay and turned the interval session into really good fun!Maybe next time , seeing that we are running the loops starting and finishing at a pub we could have a beer and road running relay, drinking a pint each time we finished a lap, now that really would be interesting! hic!!!6x 1/2 mile= 1 hour 45 mins

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

Yes I finally did it! Sign up for a FITNESS INSTRUCTORS course at my local college, it might not sound that daunting but I left school at 16 and that was quite a long time ago, so taking the higher education step did take a bit of courage on my part! Hopefully this will lead to a new job and more training so I can end up as a personnel trainer!GOOD DAY!

Felt less than sharp as I set out into a gusting headwind to meet the club in the pinewoods for a fartlek session. My intention was to keep the pace easy as I ran over the sand dunes, but as is often the case a easy pace never seems to feel as comfortable as it should do! There was an impressive turn out of runners waiting in the woods ready to subject themselves to the harsh elements of wind and torrential rain, MAD LOT!The first effort was straight into the teeth of the storm, I sat at the back taking it easy after my fast session yesterday, after the first 800m effort we turned into the woods and the welcome shelter of the trees, another four fast sections and we wound up the pace for the final time, the heavens seemed to have been waiting for us and dumped the entire contents of the biggest darkest cloud on our heads, as if we weren't wet enough already! We laughed as we took shelter under the trees as the rain belted down and the sun came out at the same time! Ever wondered why we British talk about the weather so much, well its because it changes every 5 BLOODY minutes!Ran back with Rob on the road and as is often the case when running with Rob the pace gradually picked up until we were hitting 6.30 min miles with the final half mile getting close to 6 min pace, despite shoes and clothing made heavy and sodden with water! I said my goodbyes to Rob and carried on the final 1.6 miles home. I must say I felt pretty strong at the end of the run and finished with 2 hours 18 mins, All that was left was an eight hour night shift involving much heavy lifting of stock! surely a much harder night than running any marathon!

Monday, 1 September 2008

Rain gave way to sunshine and just a light whisper of wind by early evening as I set off on my run.Straight away I felt fresh, hitting marathon pace within a few steps and it felt almost effortless ! This was good, very good!I ran down to the waterloo rd rugby ground and did Arthur Lydiards LEG SPEED SESSION, REACHING A MAX 14.7 MPH, quite an improvement in only a couple of weeks!On my way back my speed picked up until I was holding 10mph, once again it felt almost effortless!I think the return to LYDIARD type training is doing me a world of good, hope I feel this good on sunday when I have a 10k race.6 x 150m, max 14.7mph = 40 mins